Telecom Industry Relieved Over Court Ruling On Mobile Towers


NEW DELHI: The latest verdict of the Gujarat High Court that base stations for wireless data and mobile communications pose no threat to health if prescribed norms are followed will have far-reaching impact on erasing people's fears, say industry experts.

The 25-page order of a Gujarat High Court bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J.B. Pardiwala said authorities concerned must also educate people that they had no reason to fear for their health due to radio frequency emissions from these base stations in their vicinity.

The order came in the light of a civil appeal by some residents of an Ahmedabad neighbourhood wanting a direction to the authorities to disallow Reliance Jio, which is seeking to extend pan-India 4G services, from using a mobile base station in their neighbourhood.

Reacting to the verdict, K.S. Parthasarathy, former secretary in the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, said the confusion has been created by some companies that are indulging in false propaganda "that mobile tower radiation is bad".

"In the majority of the cases, the radiation levels are within specified limits. It is so low it hardly has an impact. In India, the specified limit is one-tenth the global norms - 90 percent of the countries follow the international limit," Parthasarathy told IANS.

He said some mischief-mongers were showing morphed and scary pictures of the ill-effects of mobile tower emissions. That's why the court verdict was a step in the right direction.

"This is a good decision," he said on the court wanting the authorities to propagate the correct scenario through various media.
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Source: IANS